A Bug In The Infinite Tsukuyomi
by FanFictionerVince
Summary: Everyone in the shinobi world is living their dream life, or so they think so. What if I told you that what you call a dream life is actually a dream, product of a gigantic genjutsu? Post-war, Matrix inspired. Rated M to play it safe.
1. Chapter 1 - Illusion vs Reality

_I'M BAAACK! I know it's been a while, and thank you for all of you who have favorited my other fic. This one is just an idea I got after seeing the Infinite Tsukuyomi jutsu in action and after rewatching again the Matrix Trilogy. Hope you'll like it. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto!_

_A.N. Pretend Kaguya never appeared, and that Madara still rules the world with the ninjas trapped in the jutsu._

* * *

**A BUG IN THE INFINITE TSUKUYOMI**

Chapter 1: Illusion vs. Reality

A large and hot summer sun is up in the sky above the Hidden Leaf village. The streets are busy with citizens going to work and ninjas going to receive their assignments for the day. The morning temperature is just perfect, not too hot but not too fresh either. It is the perfect moment for a certain lazy shinobi to take a walk across the village, heading towards the park to go cloud watching all morning long.

Shikamaru Nara is a 20 years old ninja who lives the perfect life. He doesn't have to go to work each day which allows him to relax and take his time most of the time. Since his father retired from his shinobi life, Shikamaru is now the main strategist of Konoha and, therefore, is only needed at the office when a conflict occurs or when called by the Hokage herself. However, the ninja world has been in peace since he was born, so he is literally never summoned. The perfect life for a Nara.

Shikamaru's second goal in life, after watching the clouds every day, is to never get married. Ever since he was younger, he had always seen his parents fight over something or the other, for no real reason. He found his mother "too troublesome" to be dealt with every day and doesn't understand his father's choice to spent his life with her. And now, his old sensei Asuma is married to Kurenai sensei, and she leads him like a dog on a leash. What a life... He was a man after all, he needed his freedom! Never would he get married with a lady.

Of course there is that one girl that Shikamaru likes: Temari, the sister of the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara. He met her when he was younger, when she came for a visit with her dad, at the time the Fourth Kazekage. Is she in love with him? Who knows. Is he in love with her? Too troublesome to figure out. However, they both enjoy the time they spent together, and it's far enough for the Nara shinobi. He lives today fully and will deal with tomorrow when it happens.

He had been staring at the sky for almost an hour now when something caught his attention next to him. He glanced to his side and saw just the person he was thinking about.

"So... Still lazy, Nara?" said Temari with a teasing grin on her face.

"Yep. Still annoying, Temari?" added Shikamaru, staring back again at a cloud that kind of looked like a deer.

"Just for you!" she laughed, her gaze lost in the blue summer sky.

"Troublesome woman..." Shikamaru muttered under his breath. "So what do you want to do today?"

"Lie here and watch the clouds. It's my favorite activity, don't you know by now Shika?" she said, a large smile on her face.

Shikamaru just smiled and watched the clouds floating fast in the sky, pushed by a strong southern wind. This was literally perfect. He was relaxing, cloud watching, with Temari by his side. It was a dream come true. Since she was now living in the Hidden Leaf, Shikamaru and Temari could enjoy their company a lot. However, he never knew why she moved from Suna and left her family. He never asked either. All he knew is that she was here with him, and that was fine, or should I say excellent, or even perfect. But of course, nothing can never be perfect for too long. All of a sudden, a man with an ANBU mask appeared next to the two of them in a swirl of leaves.

"Shikamaru Nara." he said. "The Godaime Hokage would like to see you in her office."

'Here goes the perfect day.' Shikamaru thought. He sighed before getting up and walking towards the Hokage Tower, followed closely by Temari.

* * *

"You asked to see me?" Shikamaru said as he entered Tsunade's office.

"Yes. Please take a seat Shikamaru." the Hokage told him in a very serious tone. Shikamaru obeyed, seeing the expression on Tsunade's face. "I will be very direct, Shikamaru. We have been in peace with the other shinobi villages ever since their creation. But last night, we have sensed a foreign presence within the walls of Konoha. We don't know where he or she is from and we don't know what his or her intentions are. It's an unknown chakra signature, even though it seems to share some characteristics with Sasuke Uchiha's chakra signature. I already summoned him to ask some questions, and we know that it's not his. Just one with similarities."

"Alright, so I guess you want me to investigate and find out who this trespasser is, right?" Shikamaru completed, almost reading the mind of the Sannin, who just smiled at his reasoning.

"That's right. You Nara men will never stop impressing me..." she added.

"Good. I'll do my best." Shikamaru told her before heading for the door of the office, but then stopped just before. "I would like if you sent patrols from the Yamanaka clan around the village. That way, if they sense or see the trespasser, they'll be able to communicate it to me via telepathy. And also, I would like Sasuke Uchiha to stay with me. That way, when we find the foreign presence, he might be able to help us identify it." he added, before exiting the room, this time for good.

'Just like his father... A couple seconds and he has found a plan...' Tsunade thought. 'You must be proud, Shikaku...'

* * *

The night had fallen and the moon had risen up in the sky of Konoha, which was already lit up by thousands of bright small stars. Shikamaru was now walking along the edge of the village with Sasuke Uchiha. The two young men had decided to patrol the East border of the village while the other 3 patrols, lead by Inoichi, Santa and Ino Yamanaka respectively were taking care of the North, South and West border.

"Can you tell me again why I'm supposed to follow you all night long?" whined Sasuke. "I was supposed to go train with Itachi tonight and now I can't..."

"For the thousandth time, you are with me to help me identify the intruder that is inside the village, since his chakra signature is close to yours." Shikamaru sighed. "You have the best chances to be able to recognize and face this trespasser."

'Couldn't that chakra signature be alike Naruto's?' the Nara thought to himself. 'At least, he would have been thrilled to be here tonight...'

"I don't understand why and intruder would come to the Hidden Lead though." continued the Uchiha. "We have been in peace with every other villages for so long now, why appearing at that time?"

"That, I have no clue." answered frankly Shikamaru as the both of them kept walking. "This is what we are trying to find out. So, when we face him or her, we must not kill the intruder. Ibiki and Anko will have to perform a strict interrogation to get more intel."

"Hmf. So I have to follow you around all night long and I can't even kill someone?!" Sasuke exploded, but refrained when he saw the glare Shikamaru was giving him. "Fine. You're right, I guess..."

Shikamaru sighed. 'Ok, now I REALLY wish this chakra signature was alike anyone else's but Sasuke's...' he thought to himself. "Let's keep going if you don't mind." he added. "I'd like to find this intruder and bring him to Ibiki before dawn."

"At least, we agree on that." grunted Sasuke and they accelerated to cover their whole area quicker. They were jumping from rooftops to rooftops to tree branches to signposts. After 15 minutes, they had covered their area and no one from outside the village was seen. They were about to take a quick break when they received a mental message from Ino's group.

"Shikamaru, something is wrong here." he heard Ino say inside his mind. "I thought that you were with him, how come is he... WHAAAT?! What are you doing?! Are you insane?! AHHHHHHH"

Shikamaru had a very bad feeling about this. "Quick Sasuke, let's go to the Western border. Ino's patrol is in trouble."

Sasuke mumbled his agreement and they both disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

When they arrived to the Western border, they heard noise of fighting and metal colliding coming from a small distance on their left. They picked up their pace and ran as fast as they could to where it was coming from. What they saw at their arrival left them speechless. All the members of Ino's patrol were laying on the ground, dead. They had large cut wounds on their faces and chests. A little further, they saw a shadow standing straight, looking at them. Next to it was Ino's lifeless body, covered in large deep wounds like the rest of her patrol. Shikamaru and Sasuke took their fighting stance and drew their weapons out.

"Show yourself, coward!" Sasuke yelled at the shadow. "You have attacked Konoha shinobis and will now pay the price for your crime."

"Do you think so..." answered the mysterious form with a very similar voice as Sasuke's.

'Who's this guy...' Shikamaru thought before he saw the shadow launch toward Sasuke, his katana ready to strike. In an instant, he was facing Sasuke, turning his back from Shikamaru.

"Y-you!" Sasuke stuttered. "How's this even possib..."

Before he could do anything, Sasuke had been cut from his left hip to his right shoulder and his lifeless body fell to the ground with a thud.

"I'm pained, Shikamaru. You really thought I was just all-talk and that's it. Big mistake." said the shadow, still turning his back to the Nara man.

"How do you know my name?" Shikamaru shouted to the mysterious man. "Show yourself at last."

"Of course, my dear friend." said the shadow as he stepped under the light of an outdoor lamp to reveal himself. He saw pitch black hair, then two different eyes: one sharingan and one weird purple eye. Finally, he recognized the little cocky smirk on his face...

"Sasuke?!" Shikamaru shouted. "But you just killed Sasuke. This doesn't make sense, but at the same time, it would explain how come you know me, but how?! And moreover, why?!"

"Shut up Shikamaru." told him the man. "I don't want to have to kill the rest of your dream. We need to talk."

"Dream? What dream? And talk about what?" Shikamaru said, still completely confused.

"Look, I need your help." told him the man who was the exact copy of Sasuke. "And remember this day, because it's the last time you'll ever hear Sasuke Uchiha ask for your help."

"Okay. You do are Sasuke Uchiha after all." remarked Shikamaru with a small smile. "But that would mean that there are two Sasuke..."

"Stop thinking for a while and just come with me. I don't want to attract any more of your 'friends' out here and have to kill some more. I'm done for the night." Sasuke told him, already walking towards the exit of the village.

'I have no clue what is going on, but I must find out.' thought Shikamaru. 'It's obvious he knows me, and it's obvious he doesn't want to kill me, or else I'd be dead already.' He followed him. "Hey, wait for me, Uchiha."

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Here it is. I know chapters are not that long, but don't worry. I'll try to upload as fast as I can. Hopefully twice a week, or minimum once a week. Please review, I always like to read your thoughts on my fics.


	2. Chapter 2 - Awakening

Chapter 2 is out. Enjoy! I do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.

A.N. 'thinking' and "talking". Just to make sure! ;)

* * *

**A BUG IN THE INFINITE TSUKUYOMI**

Chapter 2: Awakening

Sasuke and Shikamaru had been jumping from branches to branches in the forest surrounding the Hidden Leaf for a good 30 minutes now. The Nara shinobi was starting to doubt the intentions of the mysterious Sasuke when they stopped in a small clearing, far from anything or anyone.

"Here we'll be able to talk. No one will hear or interrupt us." Sasuke said, sitting on a stump and signaling Shikamaru to do the same. He sat on a log, facing the Uchiha.

"I don't want this to last forever, Sasuke. Tell me straight what you have to tell me and let's get this over with." told him Shikamaru with a very serious face.

"Fine by me. But I want you to know this beforehand." Sasuke added. "What I will tell you, you won't believe it. That's why I want you to listen to everything I will say before you ask any question or before you leave this place. Do you promise me that?"

Shikamaru wasn't sure of where this conversation was going, but with his curious nature, he wanted to know more about this situation. "Sure. I promise." he said.

Sasuke smirked and started his story. "Alright. First, you have to know that everything that you have lived here is not the reality. Only a dream created by a gigantic Genjutsu called the Infinite Tsukuyomi. At this very moment, your real body is trapped inside a wooden cocoon, on the battle field of the Fourth Great Ninja War. Today, it has been exactly 3 years since the jutsu started. The caster of this jutsu is called Madara Uchiha and he now rules the world with his minions, the White Zetsus. Now, the reason I am a second Sasuke in your universe is because I am not part of your universe. Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and myself have found a way to infiltrate ourselves into the dreams of the victims of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. That way, we can make them swallow the potion to free them from the jutsu, and join our team in the resistance. We chose to free you first because we need someone to come up with a plan to defeat Madara and save the Ninja world." He paused. "Now, I have said what I had to tell you. Do you have any questions?" he asked him.

"Any questions?! I have tons of them!" Shikamaru replied. "I want to know, first, if I can really trust you!"

"For that, you must believe my words." told him the Uchiha. "In this universe, I can't bring you any material proof of what I'm saying. However, I have this potion, that I made yesterday. If you drink it, you will be freed from the Genjutsu, and the rest of my team will take care of you in the real world. If you don't, then you just go back to this fake Konoha and you believe what you choose to believe."

Shikamaru looked at the potion. It wasn't very big, just a mouthful. The liquid was clear as water. He stepped forward and reached his hand to grab it, but then stopped suddenly. "And if I drink your potion and wake up in the real world, what will await me?" he asked.

"Desolation. You'll wake up on the battlefield, where lots of our friends and other shinobis from all different village died 3 years ago. The smell is atrocious. Just look at the face the dobe will make, it's funny as hell. Then, as soon as you wake up, we will have to quickly hide to be safe from Madara's minion. Once this is done, we will be able to think about a plan of action, and free some more shinobis to help us."

Shikamaru wanted to believe Sasuke. Everything he had told him seemed plausible. He was living a dream life after all. Why wouldn't it all be his dream then? It would explain why his father retired when he was still young and in good shape. That's because Shikamaru wanted to have his lazy job. And why Temari would leave her family and her village to move to Konoha. Because he wanted her by his side. After he considered all the possibilities and thought deeply about the situation, Shikamaru sighed and grabbed the potion from Sasuke's hand.

"Alright. I have decided that I trusted you." he told the Uchiha. "So all I need to do is drink the potion?"

"Yes. It will give a little time of lucidity to your brain. You will then realize the effect of the jutsu. After that, I will push some of my chakra into you to disturb the flow of the Genjutsu and you will wake up." Sasuke explained. "Are you ready?"

"Yes. Let's go." said Shikamaru before he drank the potion.

At first, nothing happened. Then, the Nara shinobi started to look everywhere, not understanding what was going on. His conscious brain had taken back control of his mind. All of a sudden, he remembered everything the Genjutsu had make him forget: his past, the war, his friends, the death of his father, of his friends and comrades. Sasuke didn't waste any time and placed his hand on Shikamaru's back. "Release"! he shouted as he pushed his own chakra into Shikamaru's system. All of a sudden, his body disappeared, and a second after, the whole universe disappeared. Sasuke was alone, standing in a pitch black environment of nothingness.

'Time for me to join the others too' he thought, then disappeared also.

* * *

Shikamaru woke up in a small, pitch black cocoon like prison. His body was hurting like hell and he wasn't even able to lift a finger. He started to panic all of a sudden, thinking he had been tricked and was now dead, or on the verge of it, but then a ray of light appeared through the thick material of his jail, slowly growing until his whole face was covered in sunlight. He closed his eyes, which were burning under the scorching light.

"Shikamaru?! Shikamaru can you hear me?!"

The Nara slowly opened his eyes up, letting them get used to the new found light. The first thing he saw was a pair of eyes, yellow eyes with a horizontal black line in them. 'Could it be...' Shikamaru could not finish to think that the 2 eyes jerked back and disappeared, quickly replaced by a glowing green light approaching his face. This was too much for the weak Nara, and he passed out.

* * *

Naruto was down on the ground, rubbing his butt with both his hands. He released is natural energy before shooting to the pinkette shinobi in front of him.

"Why did you pull me like this?!" he yelled. "What is wrong with... OUCH!"

Kakashi had slapped the back of his head. "Naruto, why don't you just put it down. We don't want to signal to the enemy that we're here..." he sighed.

"Exactly" added Sakura. "And you were way too close to Shikamaru. He needs time to get used to reality, both mentally and physically. And now he passed out. See what you've done!"

Sasuke opened his eyes and removed his hand from Shikamaru's cocoon. "Dobe, what have you done again..." he grunted.

"Oh, shut it, won't you teme." Naruto growled.

Kakashi smiled. "Time goes by and you guys don't change a bit." he said jokingly. "I think we should get out of the open before we're spotted and chased down." he then added completely serious.

"You're right Kakashi-sensei." added Sakura. "Let's bring him to the cave, and then I'll be able to heal him well."

"Alright, everyone get close and get a hold of each other!" excitedly said Naruto.

They all grabbed their hands as well as Shikamaru's and Naruto performed the Hiraishin as they all disappeared in a flash.

* * *

Shikamaru slowly regained consciousness. His surrounding was dark, but the pain had disappeared. He tried to move successfully and sit up.

"Well, it seems like someone as finally recovered." said a voice in the dark. "I knew the Nara men were lazy, but this was way over my expectations..."

"Who's there?" shouted Shikamaru, jumping up and taking a defensive stand.

"Calm down. It's just me, Sasuke." he told him, walking closer. He looked a lot different than from Shikamaru's memory. For one thing, he was taller. He was wearing a dark blue shirt with a long sleeve on the left arm and none on the right. He also had grey ANBU protectors on each forearm and was wearing a black short. His katana was strapped in his back and he had a weapon pouch taped on his left leg.

"I don't understand now." said the Nara. "You told me to drink your potion to come back to reality, then I only see eyes and green light, and then I'm all alone with you in this dark place. What have you done to me?"

"Stupid dobe." mumbled Sasuke. "That's all Naruto's fault. As soon as you woke up from the Infinite Tsukuyomi, he wanted to see you and got in your face, but he must have scared you. In the state you were in, it's not too hard to believe that it is why you passed out. We brought you back to our hidden cave so Sakura could heal you properly. But you've been sleeping for the past 2 weeks."

"2 WEEKS?! How is that possible?!" shouted Shikamaru.

"Well, after all, you've been trapped for 3 years in that Mokuton cocoon. It's no wonder your body needed time to adapt. When we found you, you weighted about 75 pounds less than your usual weight, all due to muscle atrophy. But don't worry, Sakura did a great job on you. You should be back to normal shape in a couple days."

"So you mean that this, right now, is reality?" asked him Shikamaru.

"Yes." answered simply Sasuke. "Wait a moment, I will light up the torches so you can see."

Sasuke started lighting up the torches with quick fiery breath of Katon. He started by the farthest ones, giving time to Shikamaru's eyes to get used to the growing light. Shikamaru was speechless when he saw the inside of the cave clearly. There were beds and furniture next to the farthest wall, and next to it some kitchen appliances: fridge, oven, freezer and counter. But the most amazing part was the one they were in. It was just like a hospital. There were beds, shelves and shelves of medicine and drugs, captors, lots of intravenous pouches, medical equipments, etc.

"Wow." only said Shikamaru. "Have you awaken anyone before me? It seems like you could host an army in here!"

"That's the plan." said Naruto, who had just entered the cave, followed by Kakashi and Sakura. "But you're the first one we bring back to reality. Talking about it, how are you feeling, Shika?"

Shikamaru looked at his old friends and had a hard time recognizing them. Naruto also had grown taller, even taller than Sasuke, and had a short blond beard. He was wearing a bright orange t-shirt under a sleeveless black coat, all open so the Uzumaki symbol on the t-shirt was visible. He also had navy-blue pants and a weapon pouch strapped on each legs. Finally, he had a long black bow on his back. Sakura's hair had grown, but she was pretty much the same height as before. She had a long pink ponytail all the way to her lower back with her 2 bangs framing her face. She was wearing a red tank top with her family's symbol in her back, over a fishnet t-shirt. She also had a black skirt, long to her knees, but open on the side, showing her tight pink shorts. Also, she had kept her long boots. Kakashi, on the other hand, had not changed a bit, still wearing his Konoha flak jacket with navy blue pants and shirt. However, he was now wearing forearm protector just like Sasuke.

"I'm... fine, I guess." he answered. "You guys have changed so much!"

"You've changed too, Shika!" told him Sakura. "Look in the mirror behind you!"

"Wha..." Shikamaru said, his jaw dropping. He was almost as tall as Naruto now!

"Guess 3 years do make a difference, don't they, Shikamaru?" the blond told him, getting next to him.

"We gave you the basic Konoha uniform since your old clothes were too small for you now." Sakura explained to him as he was still looking in the mirror.

"Thank you." he simply said. "But if I was trapped in that jutsu for 3 whole years, what happened to you guys?" he asked.

"That, my friend, is a very, very long story..." answered Naruto.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

This is it. The next chapter is started already. I'll post it as soon as it's done. Please review, I like to know your ideas and feelings about the story.


	3. Chapter 3: Truth of the Past

Hi everyone. Huge sorry for being so slow to update, I suffered a mega-case of writer's block. But it seems better now. Just notice that this whole chapter is a huge flash-back. I do not own Naruto, Master Kishimoto does.

* * *

**A BUG IN THE INFINITE TSUKYOMI**

Chapter 3: Truth of the Past

_ (Flash-back, exactly 3 years prior to Shikamaru's awakening.)_

_"Hinata!" yelled Naruto as he started running towards where he had last felt her._

_"No Naruto." shouted Sasuke. "If you go outside of the Susano I created with my left eye, you will be trapped also in Madara's jutsu."_

_"Sasuke is right." calmly said Kakashi. "We must find a way to defeat Madara by ourselves. We are most likely the 4 last shinobis of the Alliance."_

_"Fine, but when can we go out?!" said Naruto, exasperated._

_"The Genjutsu seems to affect you when you are under this strong light coming from the moon." said Sasuke matter-of-factly. "When it stops, we'll be able to go."_

_While they waited for the light to disappear, they huddled up and discussed strategies, under the protection of the Susano. When they were finally able to act, the Susano let them through and they were facing Madara._

_"Well, it seems like it was indeed able to block the light from the Infinite Tsukuyomi." said Madara. "Your left eye is a small wonder, almost as strong as mine."_

_Sasuke just shrugged at the comment, just as he and his teammates got into their fighting stances._

_"How in the world do you think you'll be able to defeat me in a 4 versus 1 situation?" asked Madara, laughing. "I fought your 5 Kages at once and won. I faced your entire army and they are now all asleep within my ultimate Genjutsu. You simply cannot defeat me..."_

_"Just shut up already!" yelled Naruto, enraged after he saw all his friends and comrades wrapped up tightly in wood and dreaming under the effects of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. "We won't let you get away so easily! WE WILL DEFEAT YOU MADARA!"_

_"You weaklings are not strong enough to be granted the honor of being killed by me." Madara said. "Zetsu, just dispose of them as you wish..."_

_"It will be my pleasure." said the black form attached to half of Obito's body. He just barely finished his sentence and launched himself towards Team 7. _

_They attacked him as fiercely as they could, but it seemed like Zetsu was always able to block them at the right moment. However, in a 4v1 match, the 4 shinobis were slowly getting the upper hand. Zetsu ducked under one of Sakura's almighty punch, just to be hit by Kakashi's kicking leg. He absorbed most of the hit but was sent flying in the air. That's when 4 Narutos punched him in the gut then grabbed him, immobilizing him in mid-air. Zetsu looked up and saw a large arrow of Black Flames heading right towards him. He gulped and closed his eyes, preparing for the worst. There was a large explosion, and when he opened his eyes again, he was free and Madara was standing in front of him._

_"You disappoint me, Zetsu." said Madara. "I never thought you could be beaten by those brats."_

_Zetsu silently bowed and looked down, afraid of his master._

_"Well, since you were able to fight Zetsu, I guess you deserve to lose your lives at my hands!" Madara added._

_"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled. "His shadows are back."_

_"Yes. I can feel them with my Sage mode."_

_Now, Team 7 was down in this 5v4 situation. The momentum had turned in Madara's favour and the 4 ninjas of Konoha couldn't follow him up. At first, they could give him a challenge, but then two strong attacks from the mastermind left Kakashi with both his right arm and leg broken and Sasuke with a dislocated shoulder and broken ankle._

_"Sakura!" Naruto yelled. "Fix 'em up while I buy us some time!"_

_The medic-kunoichi barely had time to fix Sasuke's ankle that Naruto was down, completely exhausted and hurt._

_"We must flee for now." Kakashi muttered to Sakura and Sasuke. "Let's get healthy, find a good plan and rest for a while. Then we'll be able to make our move."_

_Even though Sasuke didn't want to run away in front of an enemy that strong, he knew deep inside that his former teacher was right. They couldn't hope to win in their current state. Sakura launched herself towards Naruto, grabbed him and left as fast as she could. Sasuke, with his healthy ankle, grabbed with his one good arm Kakashi by the waist and followed the kunoichi. Madara sent the White Zetsus to follow them, but the 4 ninjas were just too quick for them and disappeared, which enraged Madara._

* * *

_"Look! There's a cave ahead. Let's all get some rest there." shouted Sakura to her teammates. The 3 others nodded and they entered._

_The place was pitch black dark and they couldn't see a thing but the faint light coming from the entrance. It was a small but long cave, barely big enough for them. Naruto leaned on the wall but soon felt a small opening with his right hand. It was just large enough for one person to enter and, being the knucklehead he is, he followed it deeper underground._

_After a good 10 minutes, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi had rest enough to be able to continue to run a good while. The medic-nin had also healed Sasuke's shoulder and Kakashi's leg, allowing him to run by himself. They were about to leave when Sakura realised that Naruto was gone._

_"Where could this dobe have gone now..." sighed Sasuke._

_"One thing is for sure, he has not left the cave by the entrance, or else we would have seen him." thought out loud Kakashi. "Let's look for him inside the cave."_

_They all began to search for Naruto. Kakashi was following the left side wall while Sakura followed the right side wall and Sasuke searched the floor of the cave for some sort of hole the dobe could be hidden in. Suddenly, Sakura felt a little opening in the wall and put her arm in, trying to know how deep it was. She reached a little deeper, having her whole arm now inside the opening when she felt a heavy breath on her hand._

_"Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiee!" she screamed while getting her arm out. The 2 others ran to her, trying to figure out what happened. "I felt something breathing on my arm inside a crack in the wall!"_

_That's when a certain blond felt down on the ground, laughing his ass off. "Wow! I got you good, Sakura! It's been so long since I last pranked you! Hahahaha!"_

_Realising it was only Naruto who had pulled one of his joke on her, Sakura's face turned red and she felt anger rise in her. She had to let it out. "Shannaro!" she yelled and punched the blond ninja 2 inches deep into the ground._

_"Argh." Naruto barely said. "That's how you thank me for finding the best hideout ever?"_

_"That's how I thank you for scaring the hell out of me and... what? The best hideout ever? What do you mean?"_

_"Believe me! It's perfect! Follow me, the 3 of you!"_

_They all followed Naruto into the slight passage and realised it was going pretty deep down underground. When they finally stopped walking, Naruto changed into the Kurama mode, making enough light for everyone to see the new cave they were in. It was very large, or should I say huge. The ceiling was also very high._

_"So, what do you think?" asked Naruto with his signature grin on his face._

_"I think you should stop using chakra, dobe." told him Sasuke. "It will just make it easier for Madara to find us."_

_"Don't worry teme!" answered back Naruto, still smiling. "You can't sense chakra from here!"_

_"Can't sense chakra? What do you mean Naruto?" asked Kakashi with confusion clear across his face._

_"Well, when I started going down here at first, I could feel Sakura's chakra as she was healing the both of you. But as soon as I reached this place, I couldn't anymore." explained Naruto. "Maybe the walls of rocks are too thick or something..."_

_"Let's test that first." said Kakashi. "I will go back up with Sakura. In one minute exactly, she will start to heal me again. Try to feel her chakra. Then, in two minutes from now, so one minute after Sakura will use some chakra, Naruto will turn again in Kurama mode and we will try to sense him. If all of us can't sense anything, then Naruto is right._

_They all nodded and Kakashi left with Sakura. After one minute, Naruto and Sasuke tried to sense some chakra but couldn't. Then, after another minute, Naruto turned into Kurama mode for a whole 30 seconds, then turned back to normal. After that, Kakashi and Sakura reappeared._

_"Well... It seems you were right, Naruto. This place can absolutely block chakra readings." said Kakashi._

_"Then let's stay here for a while, so we can regroup, get some rest and plan our next move." proposed Sakura, proposition that was accepted unanimously._

* * *

_ (3 weeks after they discovered the cave)_

_"No Sasuke. We can't use our techniques outside the cave too much, or else we will be discovered quickly. We still need to plan our next move, and unfortunately, the 4 of us don't seem to be enough to beat Madara..." Kakashi explained for I don't know how many times now._

_"But we can't just stay in here for the rest of our lives either! We must do something and pretty quickly too!" Sasuke argued, for I don't know how many times too._

_"They're still at it, aren't they?" Naruto asked Sakura further in the cave._

_"Yeah..." she answered. "And at the same time, they are both right. We must do something, like Sasuke said, but we can't get caught too easily, just as Kakashi said. We would need some help, but it's us 4 against the world now..."_

_"Yeah, you're right. It's not like we could awaken some of our friends..." Naruto admitted sadly._

_Suddenly, Sakura's expression lightened up. "Or is it?" she said, excited. "What if we found a way to awaken shinobis from the Infinite Tsukuyomi, rally them to our cause and fight with them against Madara?"_

_"That would be cool!" said Naruto. "But how could we manage to do something like..." He never finished his sentence since Sakura had already joined the 2 others to explain them her plan. So Naruto followed her to listen to all she had to say._

_"In the end, it's just a Genjutsu... A powerful Genjutsu but a Genjutsu nonetheless that can still be broken. If we can manage to weaken it a little, maybe we could then break it by using our chakra to push out Madara's and save our friends!"_

_"The idea is worth trying, Sakura." told her Kakashi. "But after being trapped for so long inside the Genjutsu, we will need to give them medical attention, reinforce their muscles due to atrophy, and there is still the way to weaken the jutsu that has to be studied."_

_"I might have an idea." mumbled Sasuke. "Back with Orochimaru, we studied a potion that could reveal the state of Genjutsu to the one who drank it. In other words, the patient would still be inside the Genjutsu but would realise that it is not reality. From there, it could be easier to break the jutsu."_

_"That's great! But how will they be able to drink it? They're trapped in those wooden cocoon, remember?" added Naruto._

_"If I could find a way to enter the person's mind, become part of their dream, maybe I could brew the potion in that alternate reality and make them drink it then! It should have the same effect." answered Sasuke._

_"Alright. All of these are good ideas." Kakashi said. "But we will need some equipment, some furniture in the cave to be ready when our number grows."_

_"2 of us should go get them, while the 2 others stay here." Sakura continued. "But the 2 that are going out must not use chakra, or the least possible. They'll have to walk, find shelter to rest, fight with weapons while hiding their chakra signature. Once you reach a village, just seal the equipment and furniture inside a sealing scroll. You shouldn't have to use so much chakra doing so."_

_"I'll go." said Sasuke. "I'm a good sword fighter, even without chakra. So if we encounter some difficulties, I could take care of it."_

_"I'll go with you then." added Naruto. "I can use my kunais and shurikens for now and maybe try to find some long distance weapon there, like a bow or something."_

_"It is settled then." said Kakashi. "Let's all take the time to write down a list of what we'll need to be brought back to the cave. Sasuke, focus on what you'll need to do your potion. Sakura, you list the medical equipment we'll need. Naruto and myself will take care of the everyday appliances and furniture, as well as the fighting equipment."_

_"I think we'll need to eat, and pretty soon feed more and more people." said Naruto. "That's why I propose that..."_

_"No instant ramen." Kakashi said, cutting him right in the middle of his sentence._

_"No fair..." muttered Naruto, visibly sad._

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

This is it. Thank you for reading this, and I hope to upload sooner now!


	4. Chapter 4: The STLF (part 1)

Alright! Chapter 4 is out. I have not started chapter 5 yet, but it shouldn't be too long! Enjoy and review!

P.S. I still do not own Naruto.

* * *

**A BUG IN THE INFINITE TSUKUYOMI**

Chapter 4: The Shinobi Tactical Liberation Force (part 1)

"And so we came back, with multiple scrolls full of seals, and that's how we got our hidden base." finished explaining Naruto. "But travelling to different places, always hiding and not using any chakra is very long... It took us 10 months to manage to collect everything we would need for our base."

"10 months!" exclaimed Shikamaru. "You guys must have freaked out!" he added, now turned towards Sakura and Kakashi.

"Yes, we did." confessed Sakura, but Kakashi glared at her. "OK, fine, I did. We were about to abandon hope when a scent of ramen drifted around the entrance of the cave."

"The dobe would not leave without his damn ramen cups..." sighed Sasuke.

"Hell yeah I wouldn't!" yelled Naruto. "If you want any Shikamaru, tell me. I have a complete scroll of them!"

"Actually, I would like a hot bowl, Naruto." said Shikamaru. "I'm terribly hungry and I will be able to think way better without my stomach aching for food."

"I told you they would be useful!" shouted Naruto to his teammates, who all face-palmed themselves.

* * *

"OK, tell me if there is something I didn't understand well." recapitulated the Nara. "We cannot use a large amount of chakra because the white Zetsus are patrolling the continent looking for us, which means that our team must not be too large as well. I would say between 6 and 10 ninjas, maximum. Now, we are 5: a Jounin with plenty of war experience, a medic-nin with incredible strength, an awesome sword fighter with great Genjutsu talents, a dumbass who's the best shinobi of his generation..."

"HEY!" shouted Naruto, only to be smacked behind the head by Sakura.

"Will you please shut up and listen to Shikamaru already?" the pinkette told him, visibly angry, while the blond was rubbing the back of his head.

"... and yours truly, a brain on 2 feet with little to no talent in fighting. Therefore, we need 3 other types of fighters: a defense expert, a long range fighter and a sensory shinobi." continued Shikamaru. "I have already thought of 3 persons that would fill these spots perfectly. If anyone objects to my proposition, please feel free to say it. First of all, Gaara. He can control his sand in the nick of time and without using so much chakra, which would be perfect to defend ourselves in case of an attack. Second of all, Tenten. She is a weapon expert after all. She can fight without using her chakra and can be very good asset in long distance fights. Finally, Hinata Hyuga. With her Byakugan, she will be able to see any white Zetsus coming. Also, she controls very well her chakra. Any objections?"

"I'm sure Naruto doesn't object to wake Hinata up." said Sasuke with a smirk.

Naruto blushed a little. "Why do you say that? Of course I don't object! Shikamaru said it, she's a very capable ninja and will fill her role perfectly!"

"Fine, lover boy." teased him Sasuke.

"Anyway, we are 5, plus those 3 we will be 8." said Sakura. "We are within the boundaries you set Shikamaru."

"Yeah, but I would still like to add one more person to our team: Ino Yamanaka." said the Nara. "I know she can be pretty troublesome sometimes, but our 2 fighting styles go well together, and her Shintenshin jutsu could be very useful in case of an infiltration mission."

"So 9 in total." said Kakashi. "That seems right for me. But wouldn't you like to revive Chouji also? We can make with 10 shinobis too."

"I would love it." admitted Shikamaru. "Unfortunately, Chouji is a close combat shinobi, which could be good against White Zetsus, but not against the black one and Madara. Also, his attacks are using too much chakra and he is not very good at hiding his presence. So, I don't think it would be the best idea for our group... unfortunately."

"I understand..." said Kakashi. "So what should be our next move now, according to your plan?"

"Well, now we should awaken our 4 friends, starting by our sensory Hyuga, then Gaara, Tenten and finally Ino. As soon as we have access to the Byakugan, our moves outside the cave will be safer."

"Perfect. Let's go find her cocoon on the battlefield and do this" shouted Naruto.

"Yes, Naruto can't wait already" whispered Sasuke with a smirk.

"Shut up." yelled Naruto.

* * *

"Father, Naruto and I are going out tonight. I'll be back by 11 o'clock." said a bubbly Hinata, a large smile up her face.

"Good. Be careful and have fun." answered back Hiashi.

The head of the Hyuga clan looked at her older daughter skipping her way out of the Hyuga compound and couldn't help but smile: his princess was happier than she'd ever been. Ever since the blond knucklehead had asked her out 3 years ago, she had always been smiling, but the fact that he asked her to marry him last week overflowed Hinata with happiness. Hiashi didn't really approve of Naruto at first, but seeing how is daughter was happy and how polite and respectful the Uzumaki had been with her, he couldn't refuse her to him.

Just before she exit the Hyuga compound, a voice stopped her from the gardens. "Are you going to see Naruto? Again?"

"Well, we are fiancé after all!" Hinata answered, recognizing who it was that had spoken to her. "I'll see you when I get back. Good evening Neji-ni-san!"

"Good evening, and be careful." he told her back before she left the compound.

Neji always was protective of Hinata, but since he knew Naruto well, he just pretends to worry for formalities. He had been the first Hyuga to approve of the couple, 3 years ago.

'I wonder what we will do tonight...' thought Hinata to herself. Naruto always prepared awesome dates for them, and Hinata liked to try and guess what he had planned for the both of them. But, as always, the date would start by a nice hot bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's. 'Today, I think I'll have a bowl of miso ramen!' She smiled and headed straight for the restaurant.

* * *

Hinata arrived at the ramen stand and saw Naruto already sitting there, waiting for her. She ran to join him and sat on the stool next to him.

"Good evening Naruto-kun! Have you been waiting long for me?" she said, all bubbly and happy.

"Good evening Hinata... -chan. How, euh... How are you?" Naruto said hesitantly.

"Well... I'm good. Is something troubling you Naruto-kun?" she said, visibly worried. It wasn't usual for Naruto to not be all happy and go-getter around her.

"No no no! Ha-ha. Don't worry Hinata-chan!" Naruto answered, trying to defend himself. "Ah, I see our order arriving." he added to change the subject, before explaining himself due to the weird look Hinata was giving him. "I ordered for the both of us so we could eat quickly and have more time after, ya know!"

"Here's the usual for my favorite couple in town!" told them Teuchi as he placed two fuming bowl in front of them. "Enjoy!"

"Itadakimasu!" launched Hinata, breaking her chopsticks.

"Euh, yeah. Itadakimasu." said Naruto.

Hinata eyed him worriedly. Naruto wasn't himself today. But what was even weirder was the fact that he ate his ramen at a normal pace. Normal for the usual ramen eater that is. Not Naruto normal. It had already been 2 minutes and he hadn't finished his bowl yet. Not even close.

"Naruto, if something is wrong, you would tell me, right?" Hinata told him, concern and worries visible in her pale eyes.

_(Flashback, 1 hour before the date)_

_Naruto was getting ready in his apartment for his date with his fiancée Hinata. He put his new orange and black stripped clothes and put on his head band. He was almost finished when he heard a knock on the door._

_"Hold on one minute!" he called._

_He finished getting ready and went to answer the door. He opened it, but no one was there._

_'And I thought I was the prankster in here...' he thought before closing the door. He turned back to grab his wallet but almost had a heart attack when he saw Sasuke was in his apartment._

_"Teme, what are you..."_

_THUD._

_He never got to finish his sentence and Sasuke hit him on the neck, causing him to fall, unconscious. Sasuke tied him very tightly and hid his body in the closet. Then, he formed hand seals and transformed in an identical copy of Naruto. He grabbed Naruto's wallet and the potion he had brewed hours before and exit the apartment. 'Up to Ichiraku's I guess!' he thought to himself before heading this way._

(Back to the date)

'Damn, I never thought it would be this hard to play the dobe. I guess I'm not as good a comedian as I thought. I should go to the point quickly before everything starts to go wrong...' Sasuke thought to himself.

"Hinata, I've been thinking lately. Do you think that this is the reality? Could a peaceful world really exist?" he asked her.

"Well, I do believe so. It's true that the Shinobi world hasn't always been this peaceful, but you've changed it. We've all changed it, for the better. Our hard work has paid off!" she told him, with a large smile on her face.

By that time, they both had finished their bowl. "Let's go for a walk, Hinata-chan!" the fake Naruto asked her.

* * *

They had been walking for a good 15 minutes around the streets of Konoha, in complete silence. Hinata was getting sick with worries. Every time she would ask Naruto something, he would just shrug and keep going. He hadn't said a word since they left Ichiraku's. Hinata was a gentle girl, but enough was enough. She stepped right in front of her fiancé and stopped to glare at him. He stopped too.

"Naruto, we are going to get married soon. If you can't talk to me when something is wrong now, how will we be able to solve issues once we're living together?! You need to talk to me and fast. You're scaring me..." she shouted at him, making a scene and causing people to stare at them.

"OK. Fine, come with me at the training ground. There, we will be able to talk." Naruto answered finally, before jumping from rooftops to rooftops to be quicker. Hinata followed him.

When they arrived, the training ground was empty, much to Naruto's relief. Hinata landed next to him and glared at him. "Now, what it is that is so important that no one should hear us talk?" she said.

"Before I tell you, you must promise me to listen to everything I will say, not cut me half way through my message and not run away. Can you promise?" he told her, a serious look on his face.

"Euh... well, yeah. I promise." she answered hesitantly.

"Good. Well, open your ears wide." Naruto continued. "First of all, you must know that I'm not really Naruto." He canceled his transformation jutsu and Sasuke's real appearance came back.

"What?!" Hinata shouted. "But Sasuke, what happened to your eye? And why are you dressed so differently? And... WHY DID YOU TRANSFORM INTO NARUTO?"

"Please Hinata... I said no cutting, just listening." Sasuke told her before he continued his story. "You must know that all your memories from 3 years ago until now are fake. They are a materialisation of your dreams becoming reality, like marrying Naruto, having Neji close to you, etc. We lost the war against Madara, and everyone was trapped in his jutsu: the Infinite Tsukuyomi. However, the real Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and myself were not affected and we escaped. We trained and planned our comeback for 3 years and we are now almost ready. A couple weeks ago, we woke up the real Shikamaru, and now it's your turn. Do you understand what I'm saying so far?"

"I think you're crazy. It is unconceivable to have lived in a dream for so long!" said Hinata.

"I know it's tough, but you must believe me." continued Sasuke. "In the real world, we need you to help us help the whole world. I have with me a potion. Drink it and it will help your brain to detect the jutsu and realise your situation."

Hinata was trying to understand all that information quickly, but she couldn't focus entirely on this since she was preoccupied by something else. "Tell me Sasuke, what have you done to Naruto when you took his place?"

"I don't give a damn about that Naruto. It's just your dream. I could have killed it that it would not make any differences. The Naruto you like is in the real world. The Naruto that likes you. The real one."

"Naruto that... likes me? How do you know that?" Hinata asked.

"The dobe talks in his sleep." Sasuke said, shrugging. "He needs time to understand and sort his feelings out, but he does like you. If I had not stopped him 3 years ago, he would have tried to save you from the jutsu and gotten trapped as well... Drink the potion and you'll remember."

Hinata eyed the small bottle the Sasuke was holding, trying to decide if she would drink it or not. After a good minute of being silent, she grabbed the potion and downed it. Then, her eyes flung open, and she remembered everything. The red moon, the cocoon closing up on her... _Naruto..._

Seeing the potion was working, Sasuke stepped towards Hinata and sent a large amount of jutsu in her core, distorting the Genjutsu and setting her free. Then, everything disappeared, leaving Sasuke alone in the void.

'I'll never get used to this...' he thought, then canceled his own jutsu to come back in the real world.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Et voilà. Hope you enjoyed. See you soon and thank you for reading this!


	5. Chapter 5: The STLF (part 2)

Here is chapter 5. Sorry for the very very late update, and thanks to the ones still reading this story. Bear with me please! And please don't forget to review.

* * *

**A BUG IN THE INFINITE TSUKUYOMI**

Chapter 5: The Shinobi Tactical Liberation Force (part 2)

"This time, you'd better stay away from the cocoon, Naruto..." Sakura sighed as she was trying to open up Hinata's cocoon.

"Why?" the knucklehead ninja asked. "I won't get too close this time! I've learned my mistake with Shikamaru!"

"We are talking about Hinata here..." added Kakashi. "Let's just say she has a tendency to... pass out when she sees you..."

"She does?" Everyone face palmed themselves while Naruto was thinking back to his memories of him and Hinata, and he understood. "Yeah, it might be a better idea if I stayed away..." he then added jokingly.

"Oh, and watch your back!" said Sasuke as he gained back his consciousness. "Hinata was dreaming about you in there!" He had a small smirk growing on his face, but then Naruto turned dead serious.

"I figured it would be something like that..." Naruto said, while everyone was giving him a weird look. Since when is Naruto aware of Hinata's feelings towards him? Wasn't he oblivious to all the signs? Seeing his friends staring at him, he explained himself. "Well, she did confess that time with Pain, well, Nagato. And when I was fighting along the Allied Shinobi Forces in Kurama mode, I could feel all of their emotions, and hers was always popping out... Now I feel bad for how I acted with her all those years..."

Kakashi turned quickly to look behind him as his dog sentries had detected a presence going towards them. "Right now, it's the least of your worries. We've got company. Some white Zetsus are coming this way."

"They can't catch us now. We must stay hidden from them until our team is full and we're ready to make our move." explained matter-of-factly Shikamaru. "Quick, let's get her out of her shell, literally, and let's fly away from here!" They all nodded and Sasuke and Naruto went to give a hand to Sakura who was struggling to open the cocoon. When they finally broke it up, Hinata gave them a weird look and barely managed to whisper something.

"Naru... to... Is that... really... you?" the Hyuga ushered.

"No time to explain." he said firmly. "Quick, everyone, get a hold of me." He grabbed Hinata's hand and the rest of Team 7 and Shikamaru put a hand on him. When they were all in contact, Naruto used the Flying Raijin jutsu and they all disappeared moments before the White Zetsus could see them.

* * *

Hinata started to open her eyes. It was very dark where she was, wherever that could be. She barely remembered anything, except for a face. It looked like Naruto, but at the same time, it wasn't him. It wasn't her Naruto. What the hell did Sasuke made her drink!

Soon, she got used to the darkness of the place and got up. There was a faint light coming from another room and she walked in that direction. As she entered the other room, she saw 5 figures sat around a small table, next to some other kitchen appliances. A delicious smell was coming from that direction and she could see a large pot on the oven. As she headed their way, one of those figures got up and waved at her.

"Hinata! You're awake!" said a pink haired woman. "Come here, you must be hungry."

"Sa... Sakura? Is that really you?" Hinata said. The women did look like Sakura, but she was so different than in her memory.

"Yes, it is me..." said the kunoichi as she poured some of the soup in a sixth bowl for Hinata. "I guess people change a lot in 3 years! Hahaha!"

"3 years?! So what Sasuke said was true..."

"Of course what I said was true!" said Sasuke. "Look around you: there's Shikamaru, Kakashi, myself, Sakura and Mr. Loverboy. And we're all hiding in this cave from Madara and Zetsu. And..."

"Wait... Give me some time to understand all of this..." Hinata said, stopping Sasuke's speech in the middle of it.

"You're right." told her Kakashi. "There's a lot of information to understand here. And a lot of memories, some to forget, some to remember. Eat your soup and we'll leave you alone for a moment with Naruto. He'll explain everything you need to know."

As everyone was getting up but the Hyuga and the Uzumaki, Kakashi whispered her one last thing in her ear. "Sasuke told us about your dream. You guys need to clear things up if you want to work together in here..." He then left them to join Shikamaru, Sasuke and Sakura. Hinata blushed at this. Naruto knew she was going to marry him in her dream. He would probably feel weird about it.

For quite some time, the both of them ate their soup in silence. After a good 10 minutes, Naruto drank the last sip of broth out of his bowl and turned to Hinata. "I can't believe you're not curious about all of this. I was sure you'd have tons of questions."

Hinata wasn't feeling comfortable around him right now. Everything was so strange. "Well... We, I mean, I..."

"Listen Hinata-chan, Sasuke told me everything. I know we were fiancés in your dream. And I know that you love me, you told me during Pain's attack. I'm still not sure about how I feel towards you, but I know I do care a lot about you. So let's take it from there and go on." Naruto was now giving her his signature smile. "Life has a way to bring people together, and even though there's few of us still alive now, the fact the we're there means life has not stopped yet. Let's take our time and we'll see how it goes."

Hinata was now fully smiling as well. "Alright, Naruto-kun!"

Suddenly, Naruto became serious again. "There's still one thing we have to discuss now..." Hinata didn't like how his mood switched so drastically. He continued. "Sasuke told me he saw, well, in your dream... Anyway, he saw Neji in your dream."

He didn't even had to continue, since Hinata knew exactly where he was going with this... "Yes... And I do remember... well... what happened to him. I know he is dead... if that's what you wanted to check out."

"I was just making sure." he added sadly. "If you had forgotten, we would have had to tell you right away rather than wait and have you find out later..."

"I understand..." she said, and the both of them sat there silently for a moment.

* * *

"I'm sure I felt a chakra signature around here." said a White Zetsu to another.

"No matter what it was, we arrived too late. There's nothing around here. We should go back and report to Madara..."

"Wait... look there! One cocoon's open!"

"Okay... Now we really have something to report back to Madara."

They started running away from the battlefield and towards their chief.

* * *

The 6 Leaf shinobi were now all seated around the table to discuss about their next actions. They still needed to awaken 3 of their comrades and time was against them.

"We will have to accelerate the process of waking up our friends. At one point or another, someone will notice the open cocoons." Shikamaru stated. "If we're lucky, we might be able to wake another of our teammate before they do, but with Zetsus that almost caught up to us last time, I'm afraid it's done already."

Sasuke felt like Shikamaru was forgetting something there. "You do realise that I have to enter the dream, make the potion, enter in contact with our friend and let him or her accept to drink it. It's a long process."

"I know Sasuke. That's why I propose that we wake Ino first in the end. Therefore, after that, the both of you will be able to wake someone, after you train her of course. With her Yamanaka technique, she should be able to learn your process, or arrive at the same point as you with her own techniques. That way, we would only have to exit the cave twice more: one time to wake Ino, then to wake both Gaara and Tenten."

Everyone looked at everyone and they all nodded in agreement. This was indeed a good plan.

* * *

"My beautiful little flower blossom, would you please open your door?" Inoichi's voice said behind a locked door. "You've been in there for almost a week now... You'll have to get out at some point!"

"I told you already. I'd rather die of hunger than live in a dream like this!" Ino's voice thundered.

"I don't understand sweetheart. You keep saying you're dreaming but you're well awake. Please, let us bring you to the hospital at once."

"I told you already: NO!"

Ino Yamanaka was more than tired of this masquerade. She put a silent jutsu on her door and walls so she couldn't hear her father, or should I say the image of her father, screaming at her outside of her room. She had to concentrate herself if she wanted to find a way to exit this stupid Genjutsu.

It had all started a week ago when, to try and trick Shikamaru, she had used her Shitenshin no Jutsu to take control of his body, and therefore, humiliate him. However, things didn't go as planned. She ended up seeing the vision of hundreds, if not thousands of people. Her head was killing her from the overdose of information and she got back to her body and collapsed. Immediately, seeing how bad she felt, Shikamaru and Chouji brought her back to her house, where she was put to rest in her bed.

When she woke up the next day, she still remembered some of the visions she had seen. There was multiple times her friends, but they all looked different and all acted differently. How come she could have seen 4 different Naruto? One had long blond hair and was way older, one was still a kid, one had short hair and a Hokage cloak, etc. Things were definitely weird.

She opened her window and tried again to use her Shitenshin no Jutsu on a passerby outside, but this time she focused on her pray rather than the visions. When she finally entered the person's body, there was nothing. Complete void, pure emptiness, except for a slight chakra signature. She tried to identify it, and all of a sudden, she remembered everything!

This chakra, it was Madara's. It was his because he was controlling everyone's dream within the Infinite Tsukuyomi. And she saw visions of so many people because everybody on Earth is under the Genjutsu! And now this passerby in her dream was pure nothingness because it wasn't a human, just an image in her dream. Everything was crystal clear now for the Yamanaka.

Since then, she had tried to find a way to escape the Genjutsu, but couldn't find a good way. She had tried altering her chakra coils, but it wasn't enough. This wasn't the ultimate Genjutsu for nothing, right? However, there had to be a way for her to get free. There must have been a loophole somewhere within this jutsu that she could exploit to save herself.

After almost a week of thoughts, she still hadn't found how to get her freedom back. She was sitting on her bed, trying to figure out what she could attempt to do when she saw the face of Sasuke at her window. 'Damn Sasuke...' she thought. She had not been able to capture his attention in the real world, and now he and Sai were always going after her in this stupid dream. She was about to punch the guy in the mouth when she stopped completely. This guy was indeed Sasuke, but he didn't look like her Sasuke. Completely curious and completely hopeless, she opened the window to talk to him.

"Hi Ino. Can I come in?" he asked her. She motioned for him to come in and so he did. "Thank you."

"So... I've heard that you figured out already this isn't reality right?" he said. Her eyes jolted open and she was about to ask him how could he know that, but he continued. "I talked to your dad. He doesn't seem to understand though..."

"He's... not my dad." she whispered.

"I know... By the way, I'm terribly sorry about that... But I bring you a good news. I can bring you back to the real world if you want!"

Ino couldn't believe what she had heard. He was giving her the way to escape the Genjutsu! It was almost too good to be true. Suddenly, her expression went back to disbelief and anger. It was indeed to good to be true.

"Wait a minute." she told Sasuke. "How do I know you're not sent by Madara because he realised I'm not under his control anymore. For what I know, you might want to kill me there and now!"

Sasuke sighed heavily and started to roam around Ino's room angrily. "For Kami's sake, for once I don't have to convince someone that she's living in an illusion because she knows already BUT NO! It can't be this easy, of course. Now, she thinks that I'm here to trick her... WHY can't it be easy for me, JUST ONCE..."

Ino looked at him with a funny look. What the hell was wrong with this guy. But then something was weird. Well, something else was weird.

"What do you mean, for once? You've done this before?" Ino asked, more and more confused.

"Okay, just listen tight and let me finish before you say anything" Sasuke said before thinking for himself. 'Here we go again.'

He told her everything she had to know, from how Team 7 escaped the jutsu with his Susano, how they prepared their plan, woke up Shikamaru, then Hinata and how they were almost caught by the white Zetsus.

"And now, we need you because we still have 2 more of our friends that we need to wake up, but time is running out. We need you to save one of them, just like I'm doing right now with you. And then, you're also part of our plan, or should I say Shikamaru's plan, to destroy Madara and save the world.

Ino didn't even need to think anymore. She had believed everything Sasuke had told her. And she was ready for this. "Alright. Where do I sign up?"

TO BE CONTINUED...

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Et voilà. Hope you liked it. Please review, and I'll try to upload faster... ;)


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